November 13, 1942
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

FRIDAY, 13 NOVEMBER 1942

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Reconnaissance over Attu and Agattu reveals five landing barges in Chichagof Harbor on Attu.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Joint Chiefs of Staff): Air strength on Guadalcanal is raised by the arrival of three B-26s from the 69th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) and 70th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 38th Bombardment Group (Medium) from New Hebrides.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): B-17s bomb shipping off Tonolai-Komaleai Point and Kahili Airfield (Buin Airfield) on Bougainville. A B-17 strafes a schooner in Lorengau Harbor.

USN: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Third Battle of the Solomon Sea) first phase begins. During the melee, USS Juneau (CL-52) was hit by a torpedo and stops dead in the water and is later sunk.

USMC: Lost is R4D-1 4696 pilot 1st Lt. Joseph N. Abel (MIA) on a flight from Espiritu Santo bound for Guadalcanal.

IJN: During the night, Japanese heavy cruisers Suzuya and Maya and destroyers conduct a shore bombardment of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal to render it inoperable the following morning and destroy one newly arrived P-38 Lightning. Afterwards, the Japanese warships withdraw northward.

Meanwhile at 1:25am, Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Third Battle of the Solomon Sea) first phase begins as Task Group 67.4 (TG 67.4) under the command of Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan including two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and eight destroyers encounters the Japanese Bombardment Force under the command of Rear Admiral Abe Hiroaki including two battleships, steaming to bombard Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. A savage night naval action ensues. Abe's force inflicts heavy damage on TG 67.4 before it retires northward; Rear Admirals Callaghan and Norman Scott are killed on board their respective flagships, heavy cruiser San Francisco (CA-38) and Atlanta (CL-51). Both Callaghan and Scott earn the Medal of Honor, posthumously. Aboard USS San Francisco, Lieutenant Commanders Herbert E. Schonland and Bruce McCandless prove instrumental in saving their ship, and Boatswain's Mate First Class Reinhardt J. Keppler performs a succession of heroic acts in fighting fires and removing wounded during the thick of the battle. Those three men (Keppler posthumously) earn the Medal of Honor. TF 16 (Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid), formed around carrier Enterprise (CV-6), the last operational fleet carrier in the Pacific, nears the battle area and launches air search and attacks against the enemy. During the engagement, USS Juneau (CL-52) was hit by a torpedo and damaged then later sunk at 11:01am by Japanese submarine I-26 with the majority of her crew, including the five Sullivan brothers.